


Burns

by aperfectpearl (dimensionhoppingrose)



Category: Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: Gem War, Pre-Canon, Torture, Whump, experimentation on gems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-09-28 09:25:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17180324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/aperfectpearl
Summary: There were so many stories about the war that Steven would never hear. Pearl would tell him about the victories, about the times they had marched back to camp with their heads and the flag held high. She would tell him the good things. Someday she would tell him the bad things.But there are some stories he'll never hear.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Self-indulgent whump suggested by some friends in the SU discord. Blame them.
> 
> Tephroite and Fayalite are owned by Wicked42, who graciously offered them as the antagonists for this fic. I promise I treated them well.
> 
> (No I didn't)
> 
> This is totally not beta-ed. I have to go to bed and my sleeping pills are kicking in but I wanted to finish this so.... here we are. It is what it is.

There was nothing pretty about war.

Five-thousand years from now, Pearl would stand in the battlefield, now overgrown with strawberry, and tell a great, heroic tale to a starry-eyed boy with Rose Quartz’ gem. She would paint a terrific portrait of how they had fought the invaders, how they sent them running, how they won the day.

She wouldn’t tell him the real details, however. She wouldn’t tell him about the gems she had seen shattered, about the gems _she_ had shattered. She wouldn’t tell him about the battles they didn’t quite win, but didn’t quite lose, and the hours that would be spent after looking for their fallen comrades. Or the battles she didn’t see the end of. Or the missions that went terribly, horribly wrong.

“...Such fascinating chemicals these organic have created. Imagine what we could do.”

Pearl grimaced, trying to open her eyes. Everything felt heavy, and her head was pounding. “Oh, the pearl is coming around,” a voice said with feigned interest. “I was worried we had overwhelmed her too much. Such fragile things, they are.”

“I’ll show you fragile,” Pearl gritted out, trying to lift her arms, but something was clamped around her wrists, keeping her down. She lifted her head, glaring through barely open eyes. There were two tall gems standing before her, looking down at her as if she were some kind of science experiment.

“Still, it’s fascinating,” one of them commented. “A rebellious pearl. We should make sure to preserve some part of her so we can find out what Rose Quartz did.”

Pearl gritted her teeth, glaring at them. “ _Rose Quartz_ didn’t do anything,” she snapped, sounding braver than she felt. “But if you let me go, I’ll happily show you what I can _do_.”

The taller gems exchanged looks, and laughed. “Oh, no, you’re confused,” one of them said — a Tephroite, Pearl realized. And a Fayalite. Scientists. Oh, that wasn’t good news for her. “We don’t want you to do anything. You just need to sit there. We’ll take care of the rest.”

Pearl’s eyes scanned the room, seeing a metal table full of bottles with liquids she didn’t recognize. “We’re lucky to have found you, you know,” Fayalite said lightly, with a smile that held no joy, no happiness, no humor. “Gems are so possessive of their pearls, we couldn’t get anyone to volunteer theirs for an experiment. Amethysts, rubies, peridots, agates, they’re replaceable. But a customizable servant? No one will give that up.”

“But no one _owns_ you, do they?” Tephroite continued with a smirk, looking Pearl up and down. “No one will argue if we use _you_.”

Pearl scowled, glaring at the gems. “You think _human_ chemicals are going to have effects on _gems_?”

“Oh, yes. We’ve had great success with our last group of… _volunteers_. No luck with you so far, however. Even when the other gems were unconscious, the chemical reaction would wake them up. We were just about to try another one…”

Fayalite picked up a bottle, soaking a cloth swab, and Pearl cringed back, imagining what they had been bathing her gem in while she slept, what they had done to her, what they had—

The cloth touched her gem, and Pearl screamed. It was like acid, seeping into her gem and spreading through her head, dispersing to the rest of her body. “Ah!” Tephroite sounded delighted. “That certainly got a reaction.”

Pearl slumped forward, gasping through the pain as the cloth was pulled away. _Stars_. “And that was just a brief touch,” Fayalite said. Pearl shifted her eyes up to watch the scientists work. “Imagine what prolonged contact could do.”

Pearl recoiled at the thought, but there was no escape for her. The entire bottle was brought over and tipped it gently. A small stream slipped out, hitting Pearl’s gem. A shriek ripped out of her throat, her entire body tensing against the restraints. The liquid slid down her gem in acidic streams, wave after wave of pure, burning pain racking her entire form. She can hear the other gems talking, but a loud buzzing had overtaken her hearing, making it hard to distinguish actual words. Her body relaxed with an exhausted gasp, the burning fading in increments as the liquid dried.

“We’ll have to find more of this one,” Tephroite said. “Imagine how handy it would be to have this on Homeworld in case any more pearls get… ideas.”

“I wonder how long it would take to start eroding the gem and changing the physical form,” Fayalite pondered. Pearl forced down tears, determined to face this with a brave face. They weren’t going to break her. They would not break her.

She wouldn’t be broken.

“I suppose there’s only one way to find out.”

————————————————————

Five days.

At least, that was what Fayalite announced when she began to see the liquid wearing on Pearl’s gem. Pearl would have to take her word for it, because she had lost all track of time. She was barely connected with reality; her entire body had seized up, eyes threatening to roll back in her head, choked by the screams she couldn’t quite get out. They had set up something to continuously drip the acidic concoction onto Pearl’s gem, allowing her no moment of peace. Sometimes, Fayalite would add another stream if she was bored.

But Pearl wasn’t their only experiment, and she spent a lot of time alone in the grey room, waiting for the liquid to drip a hole clean through her gem, shuddering and spasming at random intervals.

“Still no change to her physical form, though,” Fayalite observed. “She’s surprisingly sturdy, for a pearl.”

Pearl managed to choke down the pained noise she wanted to make, glaring blearily at gems in front of her. “You’re going to regret this,” she informed them hoarsely. Fayalite just smiled a small, empty smile.

“Will we, now?”

She took a bottle and turned it over, dousing Pearl’s head in at least half of it. Pure fire lit up her entire gem; her throat was raw and torn as she made a noise that no living being should ever be capable of making, or holding. It tapered off into a rough cough as she choked out some sort of bile. The acid wasn’t having an effect on her outer physical body yet.

But it was eroding her from the inside out.

—————————————————

Pearl couldn’t see her gem, but she could imagine what it looked like as the drops began wearing tracks into her gem, like something was digging into the polished surface. She had no idea how long she had been there, and the only coherent thought she could form was _Why did they abandon me_?

It had been a simple mission. She and Bismuth had been monitoring the facility, trying to get an idea of what Homeworld was up to. They had been caught, though, and had split up to make it harder for them to catch. Bismuth must have gotten away. Or Garnet would know something was wrong. Or they would come looking because it had been _too long_. Were they even looking?

“We might have to give this one up,” Tephroite reported with a hint of regret. “We’ve burned the gem almost through.”

Fayalite made a note. “We could always wait to see how long it takes for the gem to dissolve.”

“I think we’ve made good use of her, though. How much more time do we want to waste on this one?”  
Tephroite must have increased the flow of the liquid, because it suddenly came faster, and Pearl whimpered sharply, trying to shake away from it. But there was no escape. Her world was a constant, burning hell.

A crash stirred her back to consciousness. She didn’t even know she had passed out. She raised her head blearily, shaking. She felt as if her entire body was shriveling up. Another crash, yelling. What was going on?

Pearl’s vision wavered as another drip hit her gem, and she coughed weakly. How long would it take them dissolve her gem? Not long, she was sure…

“Pearl!”

The shout of her name barely registered. “Oh Pearl, Pearl, Pearl.” Large hands over hers, fumbling with the restraints around her wrists, releasing her. And then she was in a pair of strong arms, limp, resting weakly against Rose. _Rose_. Pearl tried to wrap her arms around her, to hold her and never let go. But she couldn’t feel her arms, much less move them. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a croaking noise, and she gasped before coughing again, bringing up more of the bile. It felt like she was being burned away.

A large hand rubbed her back, and pulled her close again, hugging her tight. “I’m so sorry,” Rose whispered. Pearl could hear the tears in her voice, and a moment later when hit Pearl’s gem. It felt like ice being dropped onto her burning gem, and she winced tiredly. “Ssshhh I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

“Rose, we — _stars_.”

“What is it, Bismuth?” Rose prompted Bismuth firmly, holding Pearl tighter and trying to block her from view.

“The… The other rooms,” Bismuth said weakly. “They’ve all got gems wired up and being experimented on.”

“Anyone who can be saved?”

“Some of them, yeah. Garnet’s working on a couple rubies now. Is… Is Pearl okay?”

Rose looked down at Pearl, who was still curled limply in her arms, her gem shining a bit as Rose’s tears tried to put it back together. It looked as if someone had taken a knife and carved into it. “I have no idea,” she admitted. “I’m going back to camp. I’ll send more hands to help here, take anyone you can save to the fountain.”

She felt bad, leaving injured gems. But they would be in good hands, and healed completely once they got to the fountain.

And Rose really wanted to get Pearl out of this terrible place. “Right,” Bismuth said quietly, eyes dropping to Pearl again.

“I’ll take care of her,” Rose promised, shifting to stand. Pearl groaned faintly, her eyes flickering open. The color of her pupils was off, as if it had been washed out. “Sssshhhh. I’ve got you, love.” Rose kissed her gem with the lightest touch, and she relaxed, head falling back against Rose’s shoulder.

“You came.” Her voice was slurred and barely understandable. Rose held her tighter, looking at Bismuth.

“What happened to the Tephroite and Fayalite who were running this place?”

There was a darkness in Bismuth’s eyes that answered Rose’s question before words did. “Accidental casualties of a fight, you know.”

Rose had always told everyone avoid shattering at all costs. They poofed, they cracked if necessary, but they didn’t shatter. They were better than the Diamonds.

“Accidents happen,” she agreed flatly, no reprimand in her voice. Bismuth nodded and disappeared to help Garnet. Rose looked down at Pearl again, holding her a little tighter. “I’m so sorry.”

The halls were eerily silent as Rose carried Pearl away from her personal prison. The place had been loaded with guards when they had broken in, but everyone had been… _motivated_ enough that it hadn’t mattered. The facility was so big — how many gems were they experimenting on? How many gems were they going to _save_?

Pearl was resting and almost peaceful when they stepped out into the cool night air. She stirred slightly as a breeze swept over them, and Rose hummed, trying to keep her calm as they walked to the nearby warp pad.

The camp was abuzz when they landed, and that immediately shook Pearl out of her hazy cloud of peace.

“Rose!” They were almost immediately surrounded by several other gems.

“How did—”

“Oh stars, Pearl?!”

“What happened?”

Pearl whimpered, pressing closer to Rose. “I’ll explain everything later,” Rose said just loud enough to speak over everyone else. “Biggs, I need you to take as many volunteers as you can back to that facility. They were experimenting on other gems. Bismuth and Garnet are trying to free them and take them to the fountain, but they’ll need help.”

“Right,” Biggs said, though still wide-eyed as she stared at Pearl. They had all seen her hurt before.

But this was completely different.

Rose slipped into her tent and set Pearl down on the bed. She groaned, managing to open her eyes just a bit. “What’s…”

“Sh. Just rest.”

Rose suspected the fountain was going to be busy for a while, and she always had a couple of extra bottles of water at the camp just in case of emergencies. This, she thought grimly, qualified as an emergency.

Rose sat beside Pearl, wetting a cloth and beginning to dab at Pearl’s gem. Pearl whimpered, trying to pull away, but Rose held her back gently. “I know it hurts,” she said quietly. “But you need to let it heal.”

Pearl shuddered, eyes closing again. Rose laid the cloth down on Pearl’s gem and moved to brush her fingers through her hair.

“I’m so sorry,” Rose murmured again, tears filling her eyes. They had been trying to break into the facility for days, but security had been upped after Pearl had been caught. It had taken so long for them to finally find a weak point and break in.

Too long.

Rose took the cloth to wet it again, looking at the horrible gashes in Pearl’s gem. They were healing, slowly, but stars… Rose couldn’t say for sure if Pearl would actually be okay.

Night gave way to morning. Pearl was mostly unconscious, stirring every now and again when Rose took the cloth away to dampen it again. The gems who had gone to the facility returned some time around sunrise, causing another round of hustle and bustle. Rose knew she should go check on everything, but what if Pearl woke up alone?

Garnet solved that problem when she poked her head into the tent. “Rose?”

“Come in.” Rose waved Garnet in, trying to give her a smile. She wasn’t sure how convincing it was.

“How is she?”

“Recovering.” Rose pulled the cloth away again. Her gem was nearly healed. Soon there would be no physical sign this had ever happened. “How many gems did they have?”

“About fifty.” The disgust was obvious in Garnet’s voice. “We were able to save around fifteen. Most of them were close to shattering, or came apart the moment we unhooked them.”

Tears welled in Rose’s eyes; she focused on Pearl, needing to do _something_. “The ones you saved, though… they’re okay?”

“They’re all poofed for now. Bismuth and Snowflake are going to keep an eye on them.” Garnet adjusted her visor. “What are we going to do with them, anyways?”

“Ask them what they want to do when they reform.” Rose frowned, squeezing Pearl’s hand. “What kind of gems?”

“Rubies, agates, peridots, aquamarines…”

“ _Common_ gems.” Rose gritted her teeth. “Gems who could easily be replaced. The Diamonds probably volunteered them for this little experiment.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Garnet said bitterly, looking at her ruby-embedded hand. They were both distracted when Pearl’s gem started to shine under the cloth.

“Oh!” Rose perked up slightly, reaching to pull the cloth away — and horror creased her features when she realized Pearl was projecting something. There was a momentary flash of White and Pink Diamonds before Rose hurriedly put the cloth back, swearing under her breath and hoping Garnet hadn’t seen that.

She had, of course. “Was that…?”

Rose sighed, shoulders falling. “This is why she doesn’t sleep. She can’t stop her gem from projecting when she dreams.”

Garnet was quiet for a moment, clearly debating if it was worth pursuing this. “You know I try not to ask questions or be nosy…”

Rose did indeed know that, and was grateful for it. “I know everyone wonders how I managed to end up with a pearl for a second-in-command.” She laughed just a little. “It’s an incredible thing, isn’t it? A pearl with freewill and the ability to fight.”

“It is,” Garnet agreed softly. Rose squeezed Pearl’s hand, watching her for any sign of consciousness. Her gem was still glowing under the cloth.

“She served White Diamond.” It was close enough to the truth. “She doesn’t like to talk about it for obvious reasons…”

“I won’t tell anyone,” Garnet assured Rose. “So you kidnapped White Diamond’s pearl?”

Now Rose laughed an honest, almost amused laugh. “It’s a little complicated, but yes, basically. I stole the pearl of the most powerful gem in all of history. I’ve never really thought about it before.”

Garnet chuckled. “Always trying to outdo yourself, aren’t you?”

————————————————————————

It was mid-day before Pearl finally woke for real. Her gem had finally healed, and the projection was gone. Rose sat with her to watch her, and to make sure she wasn’t alone.

Consciousness wasn’t soft or gentle — it was abrupt, like a hammer to the skull. Pearl had a brief moment of fuzzy awareness before reality hit her, and she immediately shot up, eyes wide, head snapping in every direction.

“Hey, hey hey hey,” Rose said gently, taking Pearl’s shoulders and trying to get her attention. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe. Hey, look at me.” She moved a hand to Pearl’s cheek, directing her wide eyes to meet Rose’s gaze. “You’re safe.”

“Rose?” Pearl’s voice was breathless and stunned. A hand immediately went to her gem, probing it for any signs of damage. “It’s…?”

“It took a while, but it’s healed,” Rose assured her, taking the hand and pressing her lips to Pearl’s gem for a brief moment. “No permanent damage, no marks… it’s okay. You’re okay.”

Pearl started to relax for a moment, almost folding in on herself, before something else occurred to her and she snapped right back to attention. “The check-in! Did we miss—?”

“Yes.” Rose sighed, biting her lip. She wasn’t looking forward to facing Blue or Yellow. Pink Diamond was _supposed_ to be checking in with them at least once a week. She had skipped it in favor of tracking down Pearl.

“Rose!” Pearl immediately tried to climb out of bed, but Rose grabbed her arm. “We’re supposed to be staying on top of these things so they don’t get suspicious.”

“Garnet and Bismuth would have been more suspicious if I had disappeared while you were missing,” Rose countered. It wasn’t the whole reason she had ignored her Diamond responsibilities. But Pearl always responded better to logic. “You rest for now. We can go back to the base in a few days.”

Pearl frowned, but exhaustion won; she fell back on the bed, grimacing slightly. “Pearl… what did they _do_? What was that liquid?”

“Some Earth concoction,” Pearl mumbled. “They said they were _testing_ how different gems react to different Earth chemicals. Did you know about this?”

“Absolutely _not.”_ Rose looked furious. “I wouldn’t allow it.”

“Probably why they didn’t tell you.”

“Hey, Rose!” Stars bless Bismuth for always loudly announcing herself before she entered. “Some of those gems are starting to - Pearl!”

In a flash, Bismuth was scooping Pearl into a tight hug. She laughed wearily, pressing her face into Bismuth’s shoulder. “Hey, Bis.”

“I’m so sorry.” Bismuth sounded close to tears. “We should have stayed together, splitting up was so _stupid_ …”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Pearl assured her, patting Bismuth’s back weakly. “Really. I healed. That’s all that matters, right?”

“Yeah.” Bismuth pulled back, wiping her eyes and smiling. “You’re healed.” She grinned, poking Pearl’s gem, and Pearl smiled. Rose watched the smaller gem closely for any sign of wavering or weakness. But she was okay.

Thank stars, she was okay.


	2. Fast-Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories haunt Pearl 5,000 years later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I figured out a way to make this slightly worse. I knew I could do it.
> 
> Again, this is unbeta-ed and my sleeping pills are kicking in and I stress-wrote this in an hour because of anxiety. Enjoy.

“...What in the world are you two doing?” Pearl asked, bewildered. She had more or less gotten used to walking and finding Connie showing Steven one odd human thing or another. Walking in to them sitting on the living room floor, sitting around what looked like a mound of fake dirt and several bottles, was a new one.

“Connie’s showing me how to make a volcano!” Steven said happily.

“Not a real one,” Connie hastened to add. “It’s just a science experiment. I made one for a science fair in second grade. You just use a little baking soda and dish soap and vinegar and it’ll explode.”

“Boom!” Steven added for effect, throwing his arms in the air. Pearl raised an eyebrow.

“That sounds like it’s going to make a mess.”

“We’ll clean it up,” Steven said while Connie nodded seriously. “Come on Pearl, watch it blow up with us.”

“Okay...” Pearl knelt down, skeptical about this entire endeavor. “But you better make sure it all gets cleaned up.”

“We will, we will,” Steven said, bouncing. “Come on, Connie, do it!”

“Right!” Connie reached for one of the bottles, breaking the seal with a light crack and twisting the cap off. The sharp, acidic smell was faint, but obvious.

_She took a bottle and turned it over, dousing Pearl’s head in at least half of it. Pure fire lit up her entire gem; her throat was raw and torn as she made a noise that no living being should ever be capable of making, or holding. It tapered off into a rough cough as she choked out some sort of bile. The acid wasn’t having an effect on her outer physical body yet._

_But it was eroding her from the inside out._

“Woohoo!”

Steven’s joyful exclamation snapped Pearl back to the present just in time for her to see liquid and foam exploding out of the top of the “volcano,” spraying droplets everywhere.

She screamed.

Steven and Connie snapped around, surprised, as Pearl seemed to tumbled back, skittering away from the volcano and slamming her hands so forcefully against her gem that the _smack_ was audible. She was wide-eyed, her pupils reduced to little pinpoints, her entire body shaking noticeably.

“Pearl…?” Steven ventured uncertainly, but he was interrupted by the front door opening.

“So anyways I was like – whoa.” Amethyst and Garnet stopped, looking around at the mess. “Man, Pearl, you let this happen? You’re getting sloppy,” Amethyst teased. Garnet took in the room before directing her gaze to Pearl, who was staring at the volcano in horror.

“Um… Pearl are you okay?” Steven finally asked. Amethyst made a face, shifting to look at her.

“Whoa, you look pale, P. Are you okay?”

“I...” Pearl forced her hands from her forehead, still trembling. “I need some air,” she finally choked out before launching herself up and out the door. Steven and Connie exchanged sad, guilty looks.

“Did we do something wrong?”

“No,” Garnet assured them. “Can you three take care of cleaning this up?”

“Yeah...” Steven said slowly. “Sure.”

Garnet nodded and turned to follow Pearl outside. “What was that all about?” Steven asked Amethyst as soon as Garnet was gone.

“Heck if I know.” Amethyst shrugged. “Pearl gets a bit weird sometimes, you know that.”

“I wonder...” They looked at Connie, who was staring at the volcano and frowning. “I mean, you guys are aliens, right?”

“Pretty much, yeah. Why?”

“Well...” Connie reached for the vinegar bottle. “There are gems and stuff on Earth, too. Not sentient ones or anything, just rocks. Pearls are ocean gems that form in oysters. If they’re put in vinegar, they dissolve. I didn’t really think about it, but you guys are from space. It wouldn’t have the same effect, would it?”

The implication was there, and hard to ignore. Amethyst looked back at the door, then at the kids. “You two got this, right?”

She left without waiting for an answer.

Garnet found Pearl in one of the cliff nooks, pressed against the rocky wall, rocking slightly, her arms tight around knees. Garnet knelt a few feet away. A spooked Pearl was a dangerous Pearl.

“They didn’t know.”

“I know.” It took every bit of energy Pearl had to force the words through her tight throat.

“Did anything hit your gem?”

Pearl shook her head. “I… I don’t think so? I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Can I see?”

Garnet scooted closer when Pearl nodded, tapping her visor away so she could see Pearl’s gem. She probed the smooth surface gently, clearly remembering the terrible, burning tracks those gems had carved into her so many years earlier.

“Hey.” Amethyst came around the corner with a look that said she wasn’t leaving without answering. “What happened back there?”

Garnet took her time inspecting Pearl’s gem, then looked down for approval to share the story. Pearl nodded once, curling tighter into herself. Garnet turned back to Amethyst.

“Back during the war, there were gems who experimented with the effects of different earth chemicals on gems. Pearl was captured during a scouting mission and ended up being one of their test subjects.” Amethyst winced noticeably. “Whatever they used… it nearly destroyed her gem. If Rose hadn’t been able to heal her...” Garnet shook her head. “We would have lost her. We rescued fifty other gems from the facility but only managed to salvage fifteen, and they were never quite right after that.”

“And… and that stuff Connie was using… the vinegar?”

“We never found out what it was. But the smell is… pretty distinct. I’m sure she recognized it.” She’d spent nine days with it continuously dripping on her forehead, after all.

“Pearl?” Amethyst said, looking around Garnet. “Are you okay? I’m sorry I was joking about it.”

Pearl nodded once, stiffly, and swallowed hard. “I… I wasn’t expecting that. They said it was just a small science experiment. I didn’t think it would involve that… _acid_.”

“Vinegar, right?” Amethyst asked, settling in. Garnet nodded. “I think humans use that in food.”

“They _eat_ it?” Pearl recoiled, disgusted.

“I don’t think it dissolves any of their body parts.”

Pearl shuddered, huddling down closer against herself. “The kids are cleaning it up,” Garnet assured her, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Soon it’ll be like nothing happened.”

“Yeah.” Pearl traced her finger along her gem, swallowing hard. “Are you sure it’s okay? It exploded everywhere… I wasn’t expecting that.”

“It’s fine.” Garnet opened her third eye to fully assure Pearl, and she relaxed slightly. “I promise.”

Pearl nodded, reassured. “Okay. Thank you.”

Amethyst walked around to Pearl’s other side, plopping down beside her and snuggling into her side. “Homeworld’s really screwed up, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Pearl mumbled, pressing a hand to her gem again. “It is.”


End file.
